Shrouded in Darkness
by Axinite15
Summary: 'Her body registered the grip on her foot before her brain could, and when she was pulled with a violent force, her hand snatched out and grabbed onto the train. Obviously, she didn't hold on for long.' Alternate ending to Volume 2, Chapter 11: No Brakes. Amnesia!Dark!Ruby, Manipulative!Cinder, Falling Petals, White Rose, Bumblebee. Rated M for violence.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So ever since we learned more about Cinder, I have been dying to write a Falling Petals fic. Because of friends and their convincing conversations, here it is. I'm not sure how long this will be or even how it will be received, but rest assured I will not abandon Love Falls Forever, this was nitpicking at my mind and it needed to be written down. Thank you to Brandon for proof reading this, and to Chris for planning this with me :) Anywho, lets get on with this then shall we? Thank you for clicking on this story, and I hope you enjoy :)**

**Oh, and there is some description of broken bones in this chapter, 'cuz, well, she was thrown off a train, ya'know. ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or its characters, they belong to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.**

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><p>Her body registered the grip on her foot before her brain could, and when she was pulled with a violent force, her hand snatched out and grabbed onto the train.<p>

The grip increased as the holder stopped in its tracks, causing her to be stretched as she tried to hold on to the still speeding train. Obviously, she didn't hold on for long.

"RUBY!" she heard Yang yell, and she seemed to fall in slow motion. She looked up at the blonde reaching out to her, watching her slowly become encased in protective ice.

Then time sped back up, the train shot off and she was slammed down into the tunnel wall by the hungry Grimm. She collided with a crunch and fell on her back, gasping through the pain that shot down her spine.

The Grimm, one she hadn't seen before, that looked like a Raptor, snapped its jaws in glee, and lunged towards her. She tried to move, willing her arms or legs or _anything_ to move, but nothing did. Her legs stayed motionless, and the best she could do was twitch her left arm, which was held up by a rock under her elbow. Apart from that, her body was motionless.

She was paralysed.

Because of this, she could do nothing but watch as the dinosaur Grimm dived towards her, so her eyes slid shut in defeat.

Then an almighty boom blared across the tunnel, the force hitting the Grimm that was now above her and sending it crashing into the wall where she had been seconds before. Unfortunately, it also fell where she was now.

Its head slammed to her ribs, a second crack echoing from her. Its body also fell on her, crashing onto her leg, and a third snap was heard.

She barely had time to cry out when the rocks from the tunnel wall fell, directly on top of her and the dying beast. It whimpered as one slammed on its head, rolling off and too the left.

Right onto her arm.

This time she could scream, her arm snapped like a twig and all she knew was pain.

It was too much. All of it, too much.

A sob broke past her teeth before the blissfulness of unconsciousness took her.

The last thing she saw as her head fell to the right, facing the remains of the tunnel wall, was fire burning across from the collapsed train, the dust in its compartments finally giving out.

She felt the flare on the left side of her face, and then darkness.

~Ax~

White fuzziness surrounded her vision, sight blurring in and out as she tried to focus on anything.

Laughter from her right caused her to turn her head, and frown in confusion at what she managed to see.

The people were blurry; the only distinct things she could make out about them were their hair colours and heights. And gender, from the tone of laughing voices.

The shortest had white hair, the colour fading into the brightness around her vision, the second tallest had dark black hair, and the tallest had bright yellow hair.

It was creepy, as all she could see was that, no faces, no bodies, just height and hair.

"Hey, look who's awake! You alright? You're lookin' a little ill there." what seemed to be the tall blonde figure, asked.

The black haired one interrupted her before she could manage a reply.

"Oh stop Yang; you know she hasn't been feeling too well."

"Yeah," the final and third figure, who had the prettiest voice of them all, stated, "let's infect you with the flu and see how it goes."

The blonde snorted and seemed to shake her head. The third voice spoke again.

"_Are_ you feeling better?"

Not knowing how to reply, she merely nodded her head.

"Good, you had me worried, Dunce. I told you to get a flu jab when I did."

The figure leant forwards, and she felt a cool yet warm pressure on her lips.

"Weiss! In front of me? Really?!"

"Shush!" the other two replied at the same time at the blonde figure.

She felt her eyes droop, and then she was in darkness again.

~Ax~

"Are you sure this is a good idea? Ma'am, this girl has been an annoyingly large thorn in my side for a while now."

"Well from what I have seen she is good at her job, which is more than I can say for you. Don't think you aren't in trouble for this."

The fog around her began to fade at the sound of this new person. Her voice was deep, not in a masculine way, in an attractive way. It sounded smoky, warm, yet dangerous at the same time.

Unfortunately, with waking brought back the pain.

A whimper burst from her lips when weight was lifted from her chest, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Neo, stun her."

She heard a thump as something was dropped, then several quick jabs flew around her body, aiming for her pressure points.

As sudden as it was there, the pain was gone. Replaced with an uncomfortable relaxation which unsettled her, but anything was better than the pain.

"Can you hear me? Open your eyes if you can."

The voice was closer, and if it were any other situation she would have blushed.

Slowly her eyes cracked open, expecting a pain that never came.

The woman above her was… stunning. Black hair with silver tips curved around her shaped pale face, eyes like a contained fire burning down on her.

The woman smirked, revealing some of her perfect teeth, and nodded.

"I'm Cinder, I want to help you. What's your name?"

If there was anything she wanted to do in that moment, it would be to tell this goddess her name. However, things are never easy.

"I- I don't know…"

Her voice sounded odd to her, scratchy, dry, and it hurt to talk.

Cinder tilted her head and frowned.

"What?"

"I- I-"

A third voice groaned from behind the goddess.

"This is taking forever! Mercury, give me that flask."

"Its not water Emerald."

"Do you think I care?"

Being unable to move sucked, she couldn't see who was talking or who else was there. A silver flask came into view, and Cinder took it.

"This will let you talk better, blink once for no or twice for yes if you want to drink it."

She frowned and looked at the flask.

_Well, anything is better than not being able to talk._

The blinked once, then again. Cinder smirked and brought the flask to her lips, pouring the liquid into her mouth.

It seemed that whatever that other woman did to freeze her also affected her mouth; she could taste pretty much nothing, only a slight tinge of a burning sensation down her dry throat.

Cinder's fingers started to rub down her throat, easing the liquid down. After a few seconds she removed the flask and dropped it down besides her.

"Now try again, what's your name?"

"I don't… I don't remember." She whispered, closing her eyes in annoyance at her pathetic answer and the fact that her head now started to spin a little.

"Hm, really?" Cinder asked, dragging the last word and making it come out more as a purr, a grin stretching across her face.

"No matter, until your memory returns we shall call you… Shade."

"S-Shade?"

"Yes, short for Shadow. Now, go back to sleep. We will wake you at our hospital."

Cinder stepped away and before Ruby could figure how she was meant to go to sleep, a girl with pink and brown hair practically glided into view, and jabbed her in the neck. She quickly passed out at the sight of her gleaming mismatched eyes.

~Ax~

Cinder looked down on the girl who slumped down, grin slipping from her face. She turned her head and stared at Roman, who fake smiled nervously and slowly started to step back.

"You had one job, Torchwick, and look at what's happened."

"I'm sorry boss, but what do you expect when all I have as lackeys are half witted Faunus? I need real defence, maybe you could lend me some help?"

His eyes slid over to Emerald and Mercury, and Cinder felt an angry fire burn in her chest.

"You already have Neo's assistance, why is more necessary?"

"Well if you want the job done right I need more skills! Neo is great, but there's only one of her! Just a loan, that is all."

Cinder sighed and pinched her nose, nodding regretfully.

"Occasionally you may borrow them."

The two started to complain from behind her and she held up her hand to silence them.

"I can take care of myself, besides…" she moved her gaze to the heavily injured brunette by her feet, "I have an idea as to whom can replace you."

The group remained silent after that, something she was sure would be difficult for Roman especially, all of them watching Neo lift rocks off of the Huntress in training like they were made of paper.

With a flick of her wrist Neo threw the last rock off of her left arm, a manic grin stretching her face at the sight of the Grimm dust, and the girl's arm.

She turned to Cinder and started to sign to her.

"What was that?" Cinder asked, pulling her eyes away from the heavily burnt teenager.

'_Her arm is infected. It needs to be removed.'_

"Why do you say that? What good is she if she is missing an arm?"

'_Her arm has gone green; we both know that means she has Gangrene.'_

Cinder sighed and pinched her nose again.

"So now what?"

'_Well, a mechanical arm would be much more useful.'_

A slow smirk spread across Cinder's face.

"Neo, you are a genius. Take her to our infirmary and have it removed, and then start design plans, I want my Shadow to be in good condition." She commanded, eyes taking up a new excited light at the possibilities this possessed. If she played her cards right, she could really be in a chance of taking down the meddlesome fool once and for all.

'_Yes Ma'am.'_

Cinder faced Roman and barked an order at him, telling him to get transport. Mercury and Emerald snickered at the sight of him running off to his task, unluckily drawing Cinder's attention to them.

"You two get rid of any evidence that might suggest her survival, blood trails, drag marks, anything. But leave behind her cape, from what I remember she would never willingly part from it, which of course her friends know. We want them to think that our Shadow is long gone. Rather they think her dead and mourn than think she's alive and come looking for her."

"Yes Ma'am." The pair replied in sync, disappearing off to find any evidence of the red caped girl.

Cinder brought her attention back to the small girl. There was something about her that Cinder couldn't place her finger on. Maybe it was her scars, her newly gained ones. She always did have a thing for battle wounds…

Although she did feel some pity for the girl Neo was currently brushing Grimm dust off of. The left side of her face looked pretty badly burned, surgery could help the bottom part of her face, but from the cheek bone and up it looked too damaged to repair, obviously that was where the blunt of the fire had hit her.

Her arm was just as bad, bent horrible with white bone peaking out from the ripped flesh, which had decoloured to a grotesque green. If she were not used to sights of bodily injury the visual might have made her sick. The girl's face was covered in shallow and deep cuts, including one large gash across her forehead that had stopped bleeding a while back, but was covered in dirt and most likely infected. Her leg was also bent at an unusual angle, from the sound of her breathing, she had a few broken ribs too.

And she had lost her memory, but that was something Cinder was pleased for. While she wouldn't admit it, Roman was right. He needed more guards to protect his flimsy self, which would leave her defenceless to her own power, so an extra helping hand wouldn't be too bad. That and she had seen the young girl fight; she was a formidable Huntress and with the correct training, could become a master fighter within a few months.

Cinder leant down and caressed the girls face, ignoring the knowing look Neo shot her, accompanied with a smirk.

"Hmm, yes… you will do nicely… my little Shadow."

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><p><strong>AN: Damn, that escalated quickly. Any way, like? Continue? Please let me know in a review or a PM :)**

**The characters may seem a little OOC, but I'm trying to get to different sides of characters, Cinder and Ruby especially, I'll try to stick to them but Ruby especially will change :J So, until next time, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow, I am amazed by the feedback I received for the first chapter, thank you all so much for the follows/faves and reviews :D I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible, with what A-Levels would allow, so here it is! Those of you who may also be reading my other RWBY story, Love Falls Forever, the next chapter is about halfway done, so it will be out soon ^.^**

**Also, in this story I've changed it so Ruby/Shade is actually 16 rather than 15, so the Falling Petals doesn't become... weird for some with the ****age gap :j thank you to Badger Brandon for reading over and checking this chapter and telling me to post it tonight (thanks dude ;) ) and without further ado, lets begin. I hope you enjoy :j**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or its characters, they belong to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.**

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><p>"Garh, where is she?! Ruby!"<p>

Yang grit her teeth in frustration when her shout was answered only the echo, fire burned in her veins and her fists clenched.

"She has to be in here!" she growled, marching towards the entrance of the tunnel. Weiss nodded in agreement and walked with a quick pace after her, fear coaxing her to move faster. Blake glanced around them, seeing that all the other teams were busy clearing away Grimm ash, and nodded to herself. She followed her remaining team members inside and ducked away from the view of the outside; she then reached up and pulled off her bow.

'_With my ears uncovered I can hear better, then we can find Ruby quicker.'_

She once again nodded to herself and stepped further into the tunnel, following after the other two who were quite a ways ahead.

"Where are you?!" she heard Yang yell, and felt her heart stop when it was followed by a colossal smash, the walls shaking from the strength with dust falling from the roof.

"Yang, stop that!" Weiss scolded, the anger covering just how scared she actually was.

"No! I'm not stopping until I find my sister!"

Blake ran to catch up with them, holding in a gasp at the sight of the blonde brawler holding a massive boulder like it weighed nothing. Yang grunted in anger and threw the rock, eyes burning a fiery red.

Blake saw that the rock was heading straight for the wall, and shot her hand out, three brown Dust crystals in her grip.

Three rock shadows burst from her body, making her feel a little woozy, and jumped in the path of the rock, pushing it away from the wall so it fell on the over tipped train.

The three shadow Blakes looked up in acknowledgement, and crumbled to tiny pieces.

"Yang!" the Faunus yelled, finally rearing the red eyed girl's attention, "You have to stop throwing those rocks! I know you are upset but if you keep throwing them the roof will fall in, then we would all be useless to help."

Yang kept her gaze on the feline, and sighed in defeat. Her arms relaxed as she looked down, eyes dimming to the violet they all preferred.

"I- god, I'm so sorry Blake, and you Weiss. I just… I _need_ to find her."

She shot her gaze to the amber orbs, teary, and Blake shook her head.

"There's no need to apologise, you're upset. We are all upset, now we just gotta find her, yeah?"

Yang nodded and soon they were searching again, they knew the teachers would be arriving soon, so they hoped to have found her for immediate medical attention. The blonde was beyond worried after about ten minutes of searching, red starting to flicker back in her lavender as the minutes ticked by.

Weiss wasn't fairing much better, her calm demander started to fade and was quickly replaced with massive anxiety, using her semblance to lift rocks with her glyphs and getting edgier by the second.

And Blake was dreading what was to come, she was correct when she thought she would be able to hear Ruby, yet all she could hear was three heartbeats, her own, Yang's, and Weiss'.

She swallowed down the panic and continued to look, using her shadow clones to lift the rocks.

It was a while later when Blake's ears twitched, telling her the teachers were coming down the tunnel. She quickly brought up the bow and tied it up, ingoing the sad look Yang shot her at the action.

Headmaster Ozpin came into sight first, followed by Headmistress Glynda and Doctor Oobleck.

"Have you girls had any luck yet?" Oobleck asked them. Before anyone could answer, Zweii zoomed past him and jumped to Yang's arms, whimpering in distress and nuzzling her face, Yang sighed and hugged him tight, thankful of the Dust that ran through him giving him the strength to not be crushed by her hug.

"I know boy, we'll find her, don't worry." She whispered to him, Zweii whimpered and moved impossibly closer to Yang.

Weiss looked away from the scene and towards the teachers.

"No Professors, we have no sign of her." She grits her teeth together to hold back the tears that were building up, gripping her fists and crossing her arms.

Ozpin nodded, his face blank and showing no emotion, but Glynda saw the flash of angst slash across his face before being wiped of all visible feeling.

"In which case we continue to find her. Glynda alert the VPD and request a search and rescue team as well as an ambulance, Hunters and Huntresses as well as civilians were harmed in the attack, see to it that they get the care they need."

Glynda nodded and left to do her assigned job, scroll in hand.

"The rest of you keep searching, we will find Ruby Rose and have her in safe hands once again, this I promise you."

The three girls nodded, and the five Hunters and one dog continued to look through rocks and dust for a further fifteen minutes, joined then by a whole team of search and rescue, who aided them in their hunt for the missing girl.

It was an hour later when Zweii started to whimper, howling in distress at what he had found. Weiss was the first to notice, and ran over to the whining Corgi.

"Zweii, what's- oh my god."

Right there, under a rock Zweii had miraculously thrown out of the way, was a blood stained red fabric.

Weiss fell to her knees and pushed at the rock it was trapped under, groaning when it wouldn't move.

"Urgh, Yang, Blake! Get over here Zweii found something!"

The thuds of quick steps met her ears as others came with her team mates, watching as Yang gasped at the sight of the red and grabbed the rock in her grip, picking it up. She gasped and dropped the boulder with a dull thud.

"… No…"

Yang fell to her knees next to the Heiress, eyes unable to look away from what she saw.

Ruby's cape, it was blooded with large stains of red, several other rocks around it also stained with the dried substance. The hood was charred, burned from the train explosion, and stood on either side of the red burned mass, were two Raptor Grimm footprints.

"No, no, no, no, no…" Yang whimpered, holding her head and shaking it, "No…"

Weiss reached for the cloak and pulled it towards her, small bits of rock crumbling off of it as she dragged the fabric across the ground. Once she had close she leaned towards it and sniffed the cloak.

All hope left her.

"… It's hers. Oh god, its hers." Tears broke her barrier and fell past her eyes, her shoulders shaking as she held the red cloak close to her, inhaling the smell of cookie dough and strawberries as she sobbed.

She would know the smell of her partner and girlfriend from anywhere.

Yang lunged towards the Heiress and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, hugging her as her own tears fell and sobs racked her frame. Blake came from behind them, her own eyes watering but she was managing to keep some composure in front of the solemn looking strangers around them. She knelt behind them and wrapped her arms around her team mates, feeling Yang work an arm around her waist and pulling her close. Blake felt salty tears start to fall, and buried her face in Yang's golden hair. Zweii waddled over and whined at the sight, moving towards them and nestling between Weiss and Yang, trying to give and receive comfort from both of them.

The three fighters and dog stayed like that for a long time, the cape clutched between them, while the saddened search and rescue squad bowed their heads.

Ozpin stepped through the crowd with Glynda and Oobleck, having heard the silence from the workers. They saw the girls, the cape, the blood and the footprints.

Ozpin closed his eyes and sighed through the anger that washed over him, he had failed his students.

"Call off the search, get those girls home."

"Ozpin we can't give up hope, she could still be alive somewhere." Glynda hissed, ignoring the dampness of her own eyes as she glared scathingly at the Headmaster.

"Then we will continue to search, those girls have gone through too much. I want them checked at the Medical Wing and sent to bed. We will continue looking."

Obviously it was quite difficult to move the three girls, Blake was the easiest to convince, as Weiss was frozen in place and wouldn't move, and Yang threatened to attack whoever tried to move them. Her eyes were red and her hair was burning, but when Blake gently took her hand the brawler calmed down enough to be taken back to Beacon, not letting go of Blake or Zweii, who she held in one arm.

Weiss had to be carried out, she was irresponsive and only stared blankly out in front of her. So, a member of the VPD carried her in his arms and walked with Yang and Blake to the Academy in deathly silence.

Back in the tunnel Ozpin was still staring at the blood stained rocks. Glynda appeared behind him and gently touched his elbow.

"Ozpin, are you alright?"

It was a silly question, they both knew it. How could he be alright? A student who was too young to be in the school, who he had accepted in two years too early, and had gone on a mission she and her team were too young for, was missing, possibly dead.

"I am as expected Glynda. If you would excuse me I need some fresh air."

He turned on his heel and marched out of the tunnel, striding past the exhausted but still searching workers in his step. Two minutes later he was outside, he moved away from the tunnel opening and towards a slightly destroyed coffee shop. Once inside he sat on a seat that was still intact, and stared blankly at the wall opposite him.

Then, after being a living statue in silence for several minutes, his composure broke.

He leant forwards on the table, pulling off his glasses with his hands gripping his hair. His teeth were grit tightly together and he screwed his eyes shut.

He had failed his promise.

A gentle tap was heard as the tears he had restrained for so long finally beat him, and slowly dripped down one at a time.

"I'm sorry Summer, I failed you."

He didn't leave that coffee shop for a long time.

~Ax~

She groaned when a consistent beeping shot through her brain, the sound piercing and painful to listen to. The short haired girl frowned and moved her arm to touch her forehead to try and dull the throb from her headache.

Well, she wanted to, but when she moved her hand nothing happened. no twitch up her arm of feeling of muscles moving.

A cold dread trickled down her spine and filled her stomach. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up.

Again, she tried to sit up, but a sharp pain fired through her back and restrained her from moving.

Still she did not give up, her eyes looked down and she titled her head as much as she could.

Her fears were confirmed.

Her left arm was gone. Cut off a few inches below her shoulder. Bandaged, but gone.

Then she also realised she was only looking with her right eye. She tried to open her left but she had no movement. Only darkness.

"N-no…"

Her heart rate as well as the annoying beeping sped up. Her chest was heaving erratically and she could not tear her eyes away from that stump where her arm once was.

Her… her arm… Gone…

Just before she could die of a heart attack, a woman appeared at the door. Cinder, if she remembered correctly. The sight of the beautiful woman managed to some how distract her from her previous panic, the beeping slowed a little but was still faster than before.

Cinder noticed her conscious state and grinned, approaching in a sly way, like a panther in her step.

"So you're finally awake. I wouldn't move too much if I were you," she came to a stop by her bed and sat on the edge with grace and elegance she could only hope to see again. Cinder took her right hand in her own and started to trace patterns on the back of her hand with her thumb, "you were quite heavily injured in your… accident."

"Wh-at happened?" she asked, her throat cracking. Cinder reached over Shadow's head to pick up a glass of water from the table at the head of her bed, unknowingly giving Shadow a view down her shirt, causing the injured girl to blush bright red, and sat back to bring the glass cup to her lips, knowing smirk on her pale face.

"Drink, you'll feel better."

Shadow did as told and took the cold glass between her lips, Cinder tilting it for some to roll down her sore throat. After a few seconds she removed her lips and Cinder took the message, moving the glass back to the table.

Cinder held Shade's hand in both her own, eyes drifting to the girl's bandage that covered her left eye and most of the left part of her face.

"You want to know your injuries?" she asked, sliding her gaze across to Shade's one good eye, the teen nodded, "You have many deep bruises on your back, four broken ribs, most likely from the Grimm that fell on you. Your head suffered major blows leading to your amnesia, and you left leg was broken, also by the Grimm, your right ankle was broken from your landing from the train. There was some internal bleeding that we solved, and, of course, your left arm. It was snapped."

Shade cringed and kept her eyes locked on Cinder, as to not look at her missing limb and most likely throw up.

"How? Do you know how it was broken?"

Cinder sighed and let her flaming orbs glance to the bandaged stub.

"We think when the Grimm hit the wall it dislodged some rocks, one fell on your arm that seemed to be suspended in the air by your elbow on another rock, and snapped it. It was infected so we had no choice but to remove it, otherwise you would have died. I hope you forgive us."

Shade's eyes fell shut. She fought off her tears and bit her teeth together. The fact her arm was… gone, was a hard blow to swallow. She would probably break down after Cinder had left, but she couldn't cry in front of her.

And unknown voice whispered in her ear.

"_Remember, when you feel like you're about to break, fall apart in front of those who you don't want to see in such a state, think of something that makes you happy. Something you love more than anything in the world, and focus all your energies on that one thing."_

And then, before she could even decide on what she could possibly distract herself with, ice blue eyes snapped across her vision, white hair and a slight gentle laugh.

"_Oh, you loveable dunce…"_

Her eyes snapped open and locked with Cinder, a little out of breath.

Cinder frowned, seeing Shade's heart monitor increase while her eyes were closed. She had been half expecting the young girl to explode into a mad rage, but that had not happened, instead she had sucked in gasps of air and jolted in shock and surprise.

Silver eye was calm and certainly less pain filled as it had been before as it met burning flame.

"… I forgive you. It was needed, thank you Cinder."

She squeezed Cinder's hand back in thanks, and the raven haired woman felt her body betray her when her own heart rate sped up.

She coughed and moved her gaze to the bandaged eye.

"That's not all your injuries, I'm afraid."

Shade sighed and nodded, indicating she wanted to know.

"The left side of your face was completely burnt and because of this your eye was blinded beyond healing. The healers managed to reconstruct below your cheek to your chin a little, but it will always be paler than the rest of your skin. They could do nothing for the rest of the burns, again we are sorry."

Shade sighed, remembering the flash of blue eyes, and nodded.

"Okay, I understand…"

"Also, I had some of my members break into the Schnee Company Medical Research Lab, they found the formula we used to heal you, it increases the speed of bone healing by triple the normal time it would have taken. Your bones will be fixed within roughly two weeks."

Shade smiled a half smile, and nodded.

"At least that's something, I guess."

"Indeed, then we will start your training."

With that Cinder smirked and stood, leaving the confused girl in her bed.

"Wait, training for what?"

Cinder was at the door; hand on the frame as she looked over her shoulder.

"For your revenge of course."

"R-revenge?"

"Yes, my Shadow, revenge on the ones who threw you off the train."

Shade's eye widened, and her mouth dropped.

_Someone… someone threw me?_

"All will be revealed soon, my little Shadow, do not worry."

With another smirk Cinder left the room, leaving Shade to stare at her lap with a frown.

_Someone threw me… off the train._

She slowly moved her eye to face the bandaged stump. She grit her teeth and swallowed. Finally her tears started to fall.

But these were not sad tears. They were angry.

_Someone did this to me! They… they ruined me! I will find them, and when I do, I will break them for what they have done!_

Her mind was clouded with dark thoughts wanting to burst out from her, not realising they were not like her old self, how could she?

Ruby Rose was a forgotten past.

~Ax~

Cinder entered the camera room and saw Neo at the chair, watching their patient yell in uncontrollable anger through the muted screen.

"She's impressive, isn't she? To show this much anger, and I haven't even begun to sway her yet."

Neo shoe her dark and scary smirk, and nodded.

'_It won't be tricky to convince her. Soon she will be all yours, Mistress.'_

"You're right Neo, this will be very convenient. Hmm, I can't wait to get more acquainted with my little Shade…"

Cinder was so focused on the screen she did not notice the sidelong glance Neo cast at her. The mute girl frowned for a second, and then grinned when she figured it out. The grin, however, Cinder did not miss.

"What are you smiling about?"

'_Nothing.'_ Neo signed.

"Hm, well it's weird, stop it."

Neo smirked and shook her head.

Just then Cinder's scroll vibrated, and she looked at it with a sigh of annoyance.

"It's Roman, I wonder what the imbecile wants now. Keep and eye on her."

With that Cinder left.

Neo returned her mismatched eyes to the screen, smirk growing.

_Looks like Mistress has taken a fancy._ She thought, watching as the girl continued to curse her throat sore.

_Well, at least she has decent taste._

With that Neo leant back, eyes never straying from the darkening brown and red haired girl on the screen.

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><p><strong>AN: What did you think? Like? Please let me know in a PM or a review! I love hearing from you guys, it motivates me to write faster and makes producing writing easier :j**

**Thank you for reading. Until next time, I hope you enjoyed :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello again, sorry for the longer wait but life is just being a bitch lately :/ anyway, I still managed to write this out for you :) thank you for the reviews/faves/follows, the support so far has been amazing :) I hope you all enjoy this chapter :j **

**Also, this chapter has been un BETA'd as I cannot be bothered to email Bmo at the moment :j but also big thanks to Chris for throwing a shite ton of awesome ideas at me which has improved this story's path, in my opinion anyways, so thanks bud! :D I made Emerald a little OC, but I like this outcome anyway ^_^ and finally, I have changed the time frame a little, so lets pretend that the dance happened about three months before the train, okay? Good :) so, I hope you enjoy the chapter :P**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any of its characters, they belong to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.**

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><p>Neo watched with bemused fascination as the Headmaster made the announcement of their missing student on the news. Her ever present small smile was still there, her head tilted, pink and brown eyes shining in something resembling amusement at the Headmaster's poker face. He tried to veil his obvious emotional upset, but those who knew what to look for, could tell he was close to breaking.<p>

"_Headmaster! Do you not feel __**any **__guilt or remorse that a student under __**your care**__ has been missing, __**presumed dead**__, for about a month now?"_

"_No comment." _He replied, tight lipped and barely holding in his glare and the angry reporter.

"_What have you done to try and find Ruby Rose?" _a second, much calmer, reporter asked.

"_We have been conducting search parties through the collapsed tunnel and are now widening our search to the rest of Vale. We refuse to give up on Ruby Rose."_

The screen faded back to the main reporter in the studio, who pushed her glasses up her nose before speaking.

"_Another student at Beacon, and sister of Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, was also released from custody for attacking a reporter, her bail was paid for by the Schnee Dust Company. We ask and advise all to let the remaining members of Team RWBY grieve in peace."_

Neo scoffed and threw an apple pip at the screen, hitting the button dead on and shutting it off. She kicked her legs off of the desk and glanced at the security camera screen, throwing her apple core in the bin with precision.

She could see the girl, Shade as she was now called, attempting to stand from her bed. Neo sighed and stood, rolling her eyes as she silently left and moved towards the younger girl's room.

Shade had been doing this a lot lately. She would get angry and frustrated with herself, and try to move off of her bed. Her cast had been removed a week before which only made her attempts more constant and determined.

Neo rounded the corner and silently opened the door into the room only to stop in her tracks; she ducked back around the corner and peaked around, leaving the door open wide enough for her to see inside.

Cinder was there, she was stood next to Shade with her arms outstretched, Shade using the one arm to support herself as she stood slouched on shaky legs.

"Come on now, you can do this." Cinder told her, her normally cunning voice surprisingly the softest Neo had ever heard before.

Shade grimaced, but with a grunt pushed her back straight, standing properly for the first time in weeks.

"Aha, I-I did it! Thank you Cinder!"

Cinder smiled and slowly started to walk backwards.

"Come on, dear Shadow, let's see if you can walk yet."

Shade winced, but did not hesitate to step. The first step was with her unbroken leg, and seemed only slightly difficult. Neo tilted her head in thought; maybe she could already walk again.

But as soon as Shade brought her other leg forwards and placed her weight on it, she buckled. Cinder immediately caught her, and started gently guiding the frustrated teen back to her bed.

"Damn it!" Shade yelled her remaining fist clenching as she was placed back on the bed, "I can do it! I know I can walk!" She yelled, not at Cinder, but rather in anger at her own weakness.

"Yes, but until you have built up your strength I want you to remain in your bed." Cinder told her, voice now hard with an edge that left no room for disagreement.

Shades huffed and closed her eye, the other still hidden behind newer bandages, and grit her teeth.

"I want to know who did this to me, please Cinder; I need to know who ruined me."

Neo watched surprised as Cinder elegantly sat on the bed next to Shade, with her hand resting on top of Shade's.

"Is that what you think, that this person ruined you? Why do you think this?"

Shade flushed with rage.

"Look what they did to me Cinder, I'm repulsive. I haven't even looked under these bandages and I don't want to anymore. All I want is to find this person and… hurt them."

Neo wasn't even facing Cinder, but she knew that if she was, she would be able to look past the raven haired woman's poker face to see the start of a plan growing in her mind.

"Well let's make a deal, my Shadow. When you can make it to the wall and back to your bed by yourself, I will tell you what I have discovered and who hurt you."

Shade's head snapped up, looking hopeful.

"R-really?"

"Yes, and also we will start training you for the revenge you were promised."

A grin broke through Shade's face, and she nodded thankfully.

"Thank you Cinder! I promise to help you with whatever you need, it's the only way I can repay you for doing this!"

Cinder 'humm'ed, and nodded.

"I expected you would say this, very well. You shall be trained to not only help with your revenge, but to aid us in creating our new world."

Shade's smile slowly started to drop.

"New world? What do you mean?"

Cinder laughed lightly and shook her head.

"When you can walk, my dear. In due time, then you will know all you will need to know."

Shade sighed but still smiled.

"Okay, thank you Cinder."

Cinder nodded, and then did the most shocking thing Neo has ever seen her do.

She leant forwards, and placed a kiss on Shade's forehead.

Shade blushed a deep red, while Neo gasped silently and Cinder smirked.

"I'll be seeing you, my Shadow."

Then she stood, and Neo silently ran back to her position in the camera room. She got there in record time, threw her feet back on the desk and plucked a second apple from the fruit bowl, holding it by her lips.

But she did not bite it, simply held it there as she stared at the camera screens.

Cinder had _kissed_ Shade, on the head.

She took a single bite out of her apple, spitting out a pip to throw back at the TV, turning it onto some random show so she looked as inconspicuous as she could.

_Things are changing._

~Ax~

Weiss slowly opened her eyes, feeling tired and achy. She had slept for too long, her back was cramped and her shoulders hurt, as well as her neck. She reached behind her and stretched her arm, sighing in content when the dull click sounded in her ears. She dropped her arm and focused her eyes.

Across from her were Yang and Blake, sleeping on Yang's bunk. She knew they would be sharing today, as Yang had been gone since the day before yesterday, only being released from jail thanks to her parents the night before. Blake would want to make sure she was safe. The darker haired girl had her head ducked in Yang's neck with the brawlers arms wrapped around her, her face buried in Blake's hair.

Weiss felt a sting in her eyes and an ache in her gut. She closed her sky blues and buried her head in the pillow. She took a breath of the pillow, and smiled, if only slightly, at the smell.

Roses and cookies, obviously.

Weiss sniffed and wiped her eye as a stubborn tear escaped. She needed to be doing something, needed to distract herself.

She sat up and rubbed her eye, reaching her other arm behind her as she again stretched. Once done, she silently jumped from the top bunk and landed just as quietly, gathering some random clothes and walking to the bathroom.

On the way to the door, her eyes accidently strayed across and to the desk in the corner of the room, with several framed photos on it.

One was of Yang and Blake, the brute having her arm around Blake's shoulder and grinning while holding a thumbs up to the camera, Blake had her arm around Yang's waist, and rather than look at the camera, she was looking at Yang with a soft and loving expression.

The second was of all of them, a few months after team RWBY had been formed, around the start of this term. Ruby had taken it on her scroll, using the front camera option. It was in the corner of the dorm, and the team had little time to figure out what was going on, having heard their leader yell 'surprise selfie!' and having moments to react when they figured out what was happening.

Ruby was in the corner, grinning wide with a childish gleam in her eyes. Yang had decided to dive off of her bed, and the photo was taken while she was in the air posing with a peace sign. Blake was looking with slight surprise and a soft blush, Ninjas of Love in her hands. And Weiss had thrown a pillow, which was sailing right behind Ruby's head, hitting her seconds after the photo was taken.

And under it was a normal photo, this one with the whole team ready for the camera. They were sat on Blake's bed, with Blake squished to Yang's side, and a slightly flustered but surprisingly smiling Weiss practically on Ruby's lap.

The last was another surprise, this one with good outcomes however. It was taken by Nora the night of the school dance, who had decided to follow Ruby and Weiss when they left for a talk. The picture was of the two of them out on the balcony, broken moon lighting the night sky behind them, and the two partners in a passionate embrace.

That was their first kiss.

Weiss' throat burned and she stormed into the shower, quickly undressing and washing. She was done quickly, and after drying her hair and getting changed she left the bathroom.

The Heiress had no plans for that day, so her outfit consisted of her hair being down, jogging bottoms and a large baggy black and red hoodie.

Ruby's favourite hoodie.

Weiss put the fabric over her nose and breathed in the smell of roses and cookies, climbing up to Ruby's bed as she lay down.

It had been a month since the fight, and not a single thing was found. She knew that everyone else but herself and her team thought Ruby was dead, even the Headmaster was giving up hope. But she wouldn't give up on Ruby.

If she did, what kind of girlfriend would she be then?

She pulled the quilt over her and sighed, she was tired. She was always tired nowadays.

With a second glance at her sleeping team mates, Weiss too fell into a restless sleep, her mind never straying from the missing girl in the dorm.

~Ax~

Shade gritted her teeth in an attempt to block out the pain from her leg. She was using her one arm to hold onto the bed post as she stood on unsteady legs.

It was the day after Cinder had helped and motivated her. Now, with the prospect of helping Cinder in return, and finding out who hurt her, she was even more determined to walk properly again.

_Now if only these dammed legs would work!_

She decided to try standing again, pushing away from the wall and supporting her own weight on her own two legs. A slightly breathless smile edged at her lips, she was still rather pleased that she could manage standing alone.

But of course, she got too cocky; she took a step forwards, previously broken leg first, and quickly fell to the tough tiled floor.

Her silver eye shut in expectation of impact, only to gasp with an 'oof' when warm arms wrapped around her waist.

She groaned when the person sighed in frustration and threw her back on the bed, making her bounce a few times. She shook her head and reopened her eye, and frowned at the unfamiliar face.

"Urm, who are you?"

The dark skinned, red eyed, green haired girl scoffed in annoyance and shook her head.

"Charming, I save your life and I don't even get a thank you."

A feeling sparked in the back of Ruby's mind, begging her to say '_It was hardly saving my __**life**__'_, but luckily she held it down.

"Thank you."

"There we go; anyway, I'm Emerald, the weapons tech girl."

"_Hey sis, thanks for upgrading E and C for me!" a blonde figure called, her back to Shade's view._

"_Well with how much you demand and upgrade, it its probably second nature to her now." A second voice and figure said, sat at a desk next to the blonde, all Shade could make out of her was the black of her hair and the paleness of her skin._

"_I don't demand anything, but my sis knows I like going out with the best around!" the blonde leaned towards the dark haired girl, and spoke in a flirty way, "Which is why I am dating you, kitty."_

_The raved haired girl sighed, and Shade almost jumped out of her skin when there was a second sigh from a third voice sat besides her. Her head turned and noted the third and final, white haired figure._

"_Your sister is such a dolt."_

_Shade must have mumbled some reply, as the person turned to her, and she could see a blurry pale face with sky blue eyes. The figure laughed and nodded._

"_Of course you'll be my number one dolt."_

_The blonde figure groaned, and Shade glanced at her to see her shaking her head._

"_Not in front of me Princess! She's my __**sister**__!"_

"_Hush your mouth, brute!"_

_The blonde snorted._

"_And hey, she isn't a dolt! She's quite smart to be able to do all this to our weapons and stuff, 'ight sis?"_

_Shade felt her lips move and a mumbled reply leave her mouth, but still could not make out what she had said. Apparently it was something funny, as the blonde and raven haired girls laughed while the ivory skinned girl beside her flushed red._

"_Yeah, who knew that Weiss had a thing for weapon tech girls?" the raven haired girl asked, she and the blonde started to laugh as Shade felt her cheeks burn just as red as the blurry blue eyed figure besides her._

She was brought back into reality as fingers clicked impatiently before her eyes.

"Hey, anyone still in there? Hello? Ah, there you are. I must say, that was the first time someone zoned out simply from an introduction."

"Sorry, I- I just had a thought…"

"Well great for you," Emerald sighed, again, and put her hands on her hips, "I'm here on Cinder's orders so let's get going with this already. I am aware your arm is currently; well, gone, so I say we start planning what your replacement will be like, sound good?"

Shade absently rubbed her head, trying to dull the ache she felt in it, and nodded.

"Yeah, sure. What were you thinking?"

Emerald smirked and brought her fingers up to her mouth to whistle sharply; Shade winced at the sound and shot the green haired girl a glare.

"Well, when we found you this was near you. And since I am all for recycling, I thought we could use it."

Three White Fang members, two large males and an equally large female, were struggling to carry something between them. They heaved and stepped on shaky legs, but finally got in front of Shade's bed, dropping it with a loud clang followed by their relieved sighs.

Shade sat up in her bed and looked at what they had dropped on the floor, not noting the devious look in Emerald's eyes.

What she saw was… strange. It was black, red and silver, and was quite big, that blade itself was about the length of her entire body, maybe even longer. She squinted and tilted her head, seeing a trigger and gun barrel, figuring that this massive scythe must have had some sort of gun mechanism built into it too.

"_Is that necessary sis?"_

_Shade faced the blonde figure, which seemed shorter now, most likely younger, and spoke without hearing what she had said._

"_It's a what? A High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe? Dad let you have two weapons in one?!"_

_Shade's vision moved, and she guessed the person she was viewing the world through was laughing._

"_Oh very funny, and you even gave it a name?" the blonde shook her head and sighed with a laugh, "Well, it's a good name. Crescent Rose, seems fitting."_

Shade gasped and held her head; Emerald frowned and faced the younger girl once more, having been previously admiring the scythe that not even that creepy White Fang leader could pick up.

"Shade? You okay?"

The girl nodded with a groan, and dropped her hand from her head.

"Yeah, I just remembered something. Its not important."

Emerald frowned even deeper.

_We may need to move faster if she's remembering already, I'll have to tell Cinder._

"Okayyy," she drawled, playing it cool, "but what do you think? Shall we use this as your new arm?"

Shade felt like someone had punched her in the chest and crushed her soul when she replied.

"Yes."

"Good. In that case we will continue this another time when we have dismantled this weapon."

But then, watching as the three Faunus struggled to pick up the weapon and make their way to the door, Shade felt something inside her burn to life.

"Wait!"

The three Faunus froze, clearly struggling to hold the weapon; Emerald turned and shot her a questioning look.

"What?"

"Don't destroy it. I want it as my weapon."

Emerald scoffed and shook her head.

"No offence kid, but number one; you can barely walk let alone lift this thing, and number two; its quite an obvious weapon, you wouldn't be able to go anywhere without someone recognising you."

"I'll change it then, alter it. It won't look the same but it will still be the same."

Silver eye locked with ruby eyes, and eventually the silver won out.

"Urgh, fine. Keep your stupid weapon. Faunus, take it to weapons holding."

"B-but that's four floors up!"

"Do you think I care?"

She was answered with whimpering as the Faunus carried the massive weapon, the dark skinned girl slamming the door behind them as they left.

Shade fell back on her bed and felt her breath leave her.

Why did she care so much about that stupid weapon? It was just that, a weapon.

_But she's your weapon._

Shade squeezed her eyes shut and ignored the voice in her head.

_Sleep. That's all I need. Sleep._

And sure enough, her wish was granted, and Shade fell into a deep uninterrupted sleep.

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><p><strong>AN: So what do you think? Like? Please let me know in a PM or a review! Thank you for your support guys, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Until next time, thank you for reading. :)**


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